Humidity with or without glass sliders

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PeterL

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I have a bit of a concern/problem and hope a few different views can help me.

My DT has glass sliders which close the top of the tank, I have maintained these because I have a wooden canopy, so to prevent moisture from damaging it - I actually installed them as part of the tank rebuild. What I have noticed is a great deal of humidity on the underside of the glass which is blocking a massive volume of light. I have taken them out tonight just to have a look at te system but noticed about a good 10%-20% improvement in my lighting to my corals...

Do I risk dammaging the inside of the canopy buy leaving them off or should I put them back. Lets keep in mind that it is an open back canopy, it is only closed on the 3 sides and on top with the fold down lid. So there is an escape route for both moisture and heat, however the moisture will only really begin escaping properly when the lights come on, at lights out, it leaves the canopy exposed to moisture - as well as the lights considering they are mounted inside the canopy (obviously).

What ideas or suggestions do we have out there amoungst my fellow reefers??
 
Hmmm. I would ditch the glass sliders, but improve ventilation in the hood - maybe a little pc fan or something? should prevent compromising your lights. The trade off is increased evaporation tho.... :-S

But maybe with the open back this wouldnt even be necessary.... ?
 
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There is a lot of wood exposed - don't comment on the reflectors, I know they are too short and I havent painted the inside of the canopy white either...
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Open back seen here
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I had considered mounting a fan at the back by the open space in each corner, one blowing and the other extracting to form a circulation, but the one extracting may prove futile in not having sufficient extraction power considering the whole length of the back is open
 
Dane said:
Hmmm. I would ditch the glass sliders, but improve ventilation in the hood - maybe a little pc fan or something? should prevent compromising your lights. The trade off is increased evaporation tho.... :-S

But maybe with the open back this wouldnt even be necessary.... ?
Click to expand...

Here is an interesting quiz, I have a spare PC power supply, and fan, how do I hook the fan up so that it runs? I know one needs to bridge on of the power lines as if to simulate a connection to a mother board, but where to bridge what - that is unknown right now. The alternate is to hook up the spare motherboard too - but that loat all requires a lot more building and all of that opposed to getting a 220v fan. I have a fan which was used for an industrial MCC pannel - would that work or does it have metal inner workings which may corrode too quickly with the moisture? I also have no idea how noisy it may be, I haven't run it for about 3 or 4 years
 
Hmmm, looks like its quite a tight squeeze between the wall an the housing, so probably not much "natura" ventilation? I understand what your saying about the extraction tho, I still think you should have an input and an output, this will get a flow going even if its hampered by the open housing....?

RE: starting your PSU without a mobo - its easy as pie, just bridge the GREEN wire with any BLACK wire. I used to have to do this often when testing components etc. Quick google yielded this handy link > http://modtown.co.uk/mt/article2.php?id=psumod
 
Remember the globes are warm when running. So it should heat up the inside anyway, creating a flow of hot air escaping at the back. Moisture could only be a problem when the lights are out.

Also the sliders will block a lot of light - as you mentioned. And you need to keep them clean from salt spray etc.

Mounting a fan will also help in cooling the tank. Just check you ATU.
 
Dane said:
Hmmm, looks like its quite a tight squeeze between the wall an the housing, so probably not much "natura" ventilation? I understand what your saying about the extraction tho, I still think you should have an input and an output, this will get a flow going even if its hampered by the open housing....?

RE: starting your PSU without a mobo - its easy as pie, just bridge the GREEN wire with any BLACK wire. I used to have to do this often when testing components etc. Quick google yielded this handy link > http://modtown.co.uk/mt/article2.php?id=psumod
Click to expand...

Thanks Dane, that link certainly cleared things up - I knew that it was a simple jumper connection but had no idea where to bridge. It will look like a silly DIY setup for a while but it will save the canopy until such time as I can build a proper housing for the power supply. This will open up so many possibilities with using 12V items opposed to 220V - thanks.


RiaanP said:
Remember the globes are warm when running. So it should heat up the inside anyway, creating a flow of hot air escaping at the back. Moisture could only be a problem when the lights are out.

Also the sliders will block a lot of light - as you mentioned. And you need to keep them clean from salt spray etc.

Mounting a fan will also help in cooling the tank. Just check you ATU.
Click to expand...

Fortunately for now I don't have cooling problems at all, actually the opposite, I am batteling to keep my temparateure higher than 24deg, it seems to have stagnated it's temp at that but the concern of turning my heaters up and we get a freak hot day out of the blue and the tank temp runs out of controll whislt I am not home to correct things. 24deg is OK isn't it?

What do you mean about "just check the ATU?"
 
Dane said:
Nice build btw. canopy looks well finished and slick!
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Thanks Dane, this canopy is however a pre-fabricated shop bought item, I have seen them together with the lower cabinetry for sale in one of the LFS's. I would love to take the credit but I just can't ;)

The next build will certainly have some credit worthy wood working to it though, my old man is really big on his carpentry hobby and has all the "toys" requred to produce stunning cabinetry for the system.
 
zombie clam said:
What do you mean about "just check the ATU?"
Click to expand...


Auto Top Up.

Tends to be more when you install fans and or scrubbers. Due to the higher evaporation rate, and it is that evaporation that cools down your tank.

That is why a ATU is needed. Helps to keep salinity levels a lot more stable.
 
RiaanP said:
Auto Top Up.

Tends to be more when you install fans and or scrubbers. Due to the higher evaporation rate, and it is that evaporation that cools down your tank.

That is why a ATU is needed. Helps to keep salinity levels a lot more stable.
Click to expand...

Ja, no, for sure...I have an ATU because of evaporation already, I thought you had something specific in mind which I might have not encountered or wasn't aware of - hence my confusion :p

I have noticed as you mentioned, the increase in evaporation when I installed the ATS and also noticed the reduction in temp too. I am going to go about installing the fans in the near future to help with the humidity more specifically at lights out when the lights are not keeping the canopy dry, and during lights on, it must surely be better for the life of the globes to have them stay cooler too.

How does the ATU keep your slainity stable - it is water which evaporates, not the salt...are you meaning by maintaining water levels that it has a bearing to maintain better stability in salinity in that regard?
 
How does the ATU keep your slainity stable - it is water which evaporates, not the salt...are you meaning by maintaining water levels that it has a bearing to maintain better stability in salinity in that regard?

Thats dead right.
 
Water evaporates, salt stay, so salt level goes up. You add RO water, dilute salt, salt level go down.

Adding smaller quantities of RO during the day and the salt level variances are less.
 
hmmmm, it is just me or is there something odd about the info supply I am getting today. I already know waht I am being advised...I just feel like I am missing something here lol

Thanks for the suport and feedback though, no way for you to have known that I already knew...
 
Evaporation is not only water. Some salt evaporates, salt creep on pipes, wires, sliders etc are a WIP indicator, so do not assume an ATO (auto top off) system that tops off RO water will maintain a steady salinity. One must check tank salinity regularly. You will be surprised how quickly the sg drops.
 
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It does NJ, considering I have had to increase my salinity - the salt is definately getting out of the system. I was not lus for debating the idea so I based the bulk of the SG loss by skimming. It is one of the few ways where one can actually see the salt water loss. I see salt all over the place - mainly a good collection building up on the ATS supply header pipe. I scrape that back into the system but there are losses thoughout the entire process which are not accounted for on the whole however they do make up large losses.

I have one eye one my SG all the time just to be sure...
 
Peter - I would also rather suggest putting in a fan. Leave the glass sliders out. This just causes more problems, than what it is worth (ie. increases heat, increases CO2 build-up, becomes opaque after a short while due to salt spray - causing a loss of available light in the water, etc....)....
 
I have left them off since last night and the lighting is great, all this time I thought my lighting was cool, I never realised how much light I was actually cutting out of the system. I need to get hold of a 220-240V fan, until such time I will make a plan with some PC spares which I can McGyver to suit the application temporarily.

If anyone has a spare fan laying about which they can maybe trade for a frag or two with me ;) - old school goods trading opposed to cash for goods...
 
zombie clam said:
I have left them off since last night and the lighting is great, all this time I thought my lighting was cool, I never realised how much light I was actually cutting out of the system. I need to get hold of a 220-240V fan, until such time I will make a plan with some PC spares which I can McGyver to suit the application temporarily.

If anyone has a spare fan laying about which they can maybe trade for a frag or two with me ;) - old school goods trading opposed to cash for goods...
Click to expand...

i have some pc fans for you , just need to come collect them , i also have a transformer for them so MAKE A PLAN
 
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